So Fleeting, So Transient
by Kavilene
Summary: What's the point? What's the point of giving me wings and then putting me in a cage' Deidara/oc
1. Prelude of Destiny

**Desu Kurama: Ei dotu un Naruto...**

です くらま：えい どつ うん ナルト！

if you are wondering what the hell is the above, well, read the hiragana as if a mutate person spelling English, I call it Japanese English...

* * *

Prelude of Destiny

The Kumogakure Hospital rested on the tip of a tall mountain, as most buildings of Kumogakure were. The early morning fog surrounded the tall plain building, making it a ghostly silhouette against a veil of thick white mist. There are people moving constantly about the hospital, mechanical sounds resounding in the white hallways with only a few chairs. Doors at constant intervals carved into the walls on either side. Anxious family and friends paced the length of the hallway, praying for the safety of their loved ones.

Katsuo Aoki waited anxiously outside closed doors; faint voices were heard through the thick wooden planks. He waited as his wife gave birth to their first child.

After hours of worrying over the possible undesirable outcomes of the delivery, Katsuo finally heard the relieved sighs and voices of praise from the doctors and nurses. Strangely, the expected familiar voice of Ren, his wife, was unheard. Wild imaginations began again as Katsuo attempted to calm himself down with positive self-talks and reasoning. But those reasoning were once again dismissed as Katsuo noticed that a baby's cry was unheard. Just as those unwanted creativity of the human brain start to haunt him again, a nurse pushed opened the doors with an exhausted smile, holding a baby girl in her arms.

Katsuo was relieved; he took the baby girl from the nurse's arms for a closer look. The baby did not cry as most babies do at birth, but she is breathing normally. Her body is still covered in her mother's blood. Katsuo wiped away some of the crimson substance on her face to reveal her skin. The girl was very pale for a child belonging to Kumogakure. Katsuo can't help but wonder how the baby got such a light skin colour when he himself had dark skin and Ren was not as pale. Little ends of dark black hair stood on her head, her big curious onyx eyes darting about and then came to a rest to hold Katsuo's own gaze. Katsuo was filled with joy and pride for both this child and his wife. He remembered what the elders said,

'_Fathered by the strongest shinobi of the proud Aoki clan, Katsuo, mothered by the best medical kunoichi in Kumogakure, this child will definitely grow up to be phenomenal!' _

The proud shinobi smiled to himself as he imagined the girl to grow up to be like Ren and him. He gave the baby back to the nurse to cleanse, went through the wooden doors and saw Ren lying on a white hospital bed, exhausted.

Katsuo approached, Ren's eyes flicked open at the familiar scent. The dark skinned male marvelled Ren's sensitivity, a blood trait nurtured by years of training.

'How's the baby? Is it a boy or a girl?' Ren asked, lowering her eyelids in exhaustion.

'The baby's fine, it's a girl. She is a little pale but she's good and strong.'

'That's good…'

'Now that we know it's a girl, what are we going to name her?'

'We have decided that before.'

'Yes, if it's a girl then Rika, Rika it is then.'

'Rika, yes, the scent of home...'

Ren trailed off as she fell asleep. Katsuo smiled again, it's been a long time since he had smiled so much in one day. He briefly noted the way Ren accented 'home'. He looked at the peaceful expression Ren wore and acquired his own little portion of peace to calm the excitement of the day, but somewhere deep in his mind he knew that this would just be the silence before a storm breaks out.

* * *

TWO DAYS LATER

Katsuo and Ren watched Rika sleep. The only sound audible was the rhythmic breathing and the occasional little snorts of the newborn. Ren had already gotten out of the hospital, even when the doctors and nurses strongly disencouraged her in doing so.

Ren tilted her head to the side, but not enough to face Katsuo, only enough to let him know that she was talking to him. Ren whispered, not taking her eyes off Rika, '_Doesn't she look like Sayomi? When Sayomi was a baby they look exactly alike._' Katsuo raised one of his eyebrows, '_How would you have seen Sayomi as a baby? You were only 2 when Sayomi was born._'

Ren tilted her head furthr to face Katsuo, '_There is a _recent_ invention called photographs. If you haven't heard of it, you'd be living under a huge boulder. I suggest you to crawl out from under there._' Sacasm flowed within Ren's words, but Katsuo only laughed. He was used to this, sarcasm is a nature to Ren, Ren wouldn't be Ren if her speech had no sarcasm. Katsuo also laughed because he has thought of a witty comeback, or at least he thought it was witty. '_I maybe living under a boulder, but regardless where I live, I lived with _you_._'

'Tch.' Ren pouted and turned back to Rika, her pout soon dissolved into a warm smile.

Katsuo watched Ren's facinated and yet calm expression.

The peace was broken by a knock on the door, a stone dropped into calm water.

Katsuo stood up to meet their guest. Masao, the Aoki clan leader and Katsuo's elder brother, stood in the doorway with a grim face. Masao was a man with medium height, short brown hair pertruding in natural spikes and locks, his seal brown eyes were intense and demanding and his skin was dark like ebony and his well build-body dominated the doorframe.

At the age of 31, Masao was the youngest leader in the clan history. He was gifted with an array of talents that Katsuo respected but also envied. He was Katsuo's all time childhood role-model, enemy and goal. Every day, Katsuo worked towards surpassing Masao, and on the day he achieved his goal, the younger brother was offered the Aoki throne. But he refused. He's just like that, not willing to be bound by any commitments, the honour this throne might bring means nothing to him, the only thing that mattered was his freedom and his family. With his laid-back attitude and spontaneous actions contrasting Masao's serious nature and careful planning, the elders didn't bother persuading Katsuo. Masao, governed 80% by his pride and ego, initially refused the title that was 'Katsuo's leftover', but the elders knew the brothers too well after many coaxing and bribing, Masao finally accepted the title. Aoki can't go without a leader.

'The elders of Aoki wishes to see you,' said Masao, still with the grim face.

'Now?' responded Katsuo.

'Yes.'

Katsuo turned around with an apologetic smile, saw Ren's eye's turned towards the two in the doorway, aware that Ren has heard the conversation well and clear, also aware that she knew exactly what the hidden meaning behind those vague words is.

Ren frowned but didn't say anything as her husband followed his brother out. She turned back to Rika, 'We'll always be by your side,' Ren whispered, and leant down to plant a small peck on Rika's forehead.

* * *

'Draw chakra to your feet, push them out from your sole. Remember to balance the amount of chakra you exert with your own weight. Too much and you'll be topling over, too less you'd be sinking.'

I focused, felt something stir within me, caught it, pulled it towards my sole and released it into the water. Walked towards father at the centre of the rushing river, still drawing chakra to the bottom of my feet. _Balance, balance. _When I reached father, I lifted up my head to see that he was smiling, pleased. I paid him back with a big grin.

Yeah, finally, I managed to _walk _to him and not walk half way and swim the other half. I mean, the first time (that was this morning) he instructed me, he just said to _reach_ the spot where he's standing, not specifying the method.

'Well done Rika, you can control your chakra well. That's it for today, let's go home and have dinner.'

'So mum won't shout at you for being late.' I said, accusingly. Nudging father with my elbow and raising my eyebrows for effect.

Father responded with his trademark 'awkward' laugh, looked away and started back home.

I live with father and mother in a small hut on the border of Kusagakure and the Land of Rock. The closest two populated villages are Iwagakure, a fair long way away; and the small settlement of Kusagakure, about 20 minutes of walking. There is a river running from east to west not that far away from our house and a cliff behind us, on the right side is a forest and the town is to the left. We can be pretty much said as isolated, aside from the company of that stubborn oak tree that stood in our backyard refusing to give in to the unsuitble climate of the land, and maybe the occasional visits form the towns people to seek out my father.

I love the place I live; I can say that I know the area as well as the back of my hand. I have been exploring this land ever since I started walking, wll, maybe not _that_ far back...mother wouldn't have let me. I roamed the land, crawled through every single tunnel, looked into every single hole and know every single rock and tree.

Some days I would go sit next to the creek extended from the main river. I remember when I was young, about 6, I used to sit there and just look, listen and smell my surroundings, what was that word again? Yeah, Observe.

I first started by concentrating on my sense of smell. I would close my eyes and then try to distinguish every single scent that happens to catch the wind, when I concentrate; I also hear things, from the water flowing in between rocks to the distant chirping of the birds. I love the birds, watching them fly makes me feel so free, I somehow envy them, for their ability to take off and run away from anything, anytime they want, they are just so free in the sky, in the wind. Not like I would want to run away from anything, I'm content with my life. But I still want to have wings, to try to fly, at least.

When I started to learn all types of jutsus with father, I incorporated chakra into my 'observation' sessions. I distinguished more scents, heard more sounds and I discovered a way to sense movement around me. I sensed a lizard crawling, then a rock being pushed around by the current of the river. Many times I've fallen asleep by the creek, ending up being carried home like a potato sack by my father.

I went back there often, watched all the habitats move to and fro, I watched them as they ignored me. I liked the feeling when my subject of scrutiny doesn't even know of my existence, it makes me feel transparent, it feels like I am merging with the surrounding.

No, I'm not a natualist...

Maybe?

Anyways, back to the present...

Just like always, my father and I returned home after the 'training session', as expected, mother greeted us. Oh yeah, her greetings today (like always) comes in a bulk package, the greeting is just the one glass ornament; the lecturing, is the big great extra foam boards.

'_You guys being on time for dinner, it's important to not let the food get cold or give chances to lurking insects to have a bite of our dinner. Do you know how long i spent to cook those for you? Huh? Blah...blah...blah...' _and stuff mother always rambles about.

I suppressed a chuckle as mother towered over father (mother is 168cm, father is 174cm) more like two comedic duo performing right in front of me, I started to giggle, then started laughing. Mother and father ceased to argue and looked at me incredulously.

After a few seconds of my solo laughing fit, father started laughing too. At first, mother tried to look unamused, having me crack up during her infamous speech, but mother finally gave in and her pout turned into a warm smile.

Father and I even have the same laughing habit, throw our head back and open our mouth to heaven, then use our voice boxes and lungs to send vibrations up to the sky. Mother shook her head, while smiling, and also while turning away.

She turned back with two buns in each of her hands, and stuffed them in our wide-open jaws, gagging us in an attempt for us to stop laughing like two idiots.

This is such a warm feeling, to be with my family. I used my hand to pull out the bun, taking a bite and realising how hungry I was, and listened to my parents' heart warming laughs.

* * *

**Thank you Yuti-Chan and darkaquarian96 for the reviews! **

**I have been rewriting this chapter a lot, changes to this chapter usually means slight changes to the plot. DX**

**This is totally not beta-read, any grammatical mistakes I apologise for.**

**Please review!**


	2. Hazard

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Naruto...**

* * *

Hazard

I went back to the creek, sat where I usually sit, on a rock precariously balanced between two tree roots. I got on the rock with the usual routine, a routine that I formed myself that proved successful for getting on top of the rock and sitting on it without injuring myself by falling or the rock rolling away, the former being the more common one and the latter only happened once. I climbed/walked up the tree to the right of the rock and hung onto a low branch, the rock isn't far beneath my feet, inface, if I stretch a little further, I could have touched the rock with my toes. I let go of the branch and gently landed on the rock, on which I lowered my self and sat, dangling my feet over the curved and sharp edges of its side.

I swung my legs around and hit the rock with the heels of my shoes. I absent mindedly looked into the sky, there were a few white clouds dotted on the light blue canvas, one looked like a pillow, another looked like a sheep and the other looked like a butterfly there was one big thick grey cloud blanking the horizon, occasionally, light would flash from within the clouds and illuminate its dark outlines. The sun was to my left, somewhere, so I am in the shades created by the leaves overhead. I felt patches of sunlight on my skin, that hapeened to squeeze through the gaps of the canopy. A strong gust of wind seemed to gush through from the horizon, blowing my black hair behind me; one strand got stuck to my moist lips, I brushed it away. The scent of the wild flowers hit my nose; I let everything drain from my mind as I sat still and concentrated on my surroundings as I always do. The subtle movements of the ants, moving in large armies of trained warriors, up a tree; the small sound of thunder and wind in the distance; the smell of moisture in the air. I_t's raining, about 40 kilometres from here, if the wind keeps up at this pace, it may take about 30 minuted to get here, I've got to get home before that._

I kept my eyes closed, while channeling chakra into my sencsory organs to confirm my calculations.

Suddenly, I began seeing shapes on the back of my eyelids. I was sure my eyes were still closed. The shapes was gradually defined into an image of my surrounding, or much rather the living or the once living things in my surrounding that I already knew was there, but instead of yellow, green, blue and every other colour, all I see is red, different tints and shades of red.

I lifted up my hand and touched my eyelids, they are still closed.

I shook my head to see if it really was just a game that my mind had decided to play on me, but the vision stayed.

I channelled chakra to my sensory organs and the image began to clear and focus. (A/N Filters-Image-Denoise XD)

I can see every single detail in my surrounding, from a leaf in the tree on my right, to an ant on a grass behind me, the rock underneath me. But the vision continued to clear, my vision randomly focused on a tree and zoomed on it, I can now see it with detail, but my vision continued to 'zoom', now at a more rapid speed as I used more chakra.

I saw a single leaf in the tree, the details cleared even more. The veins, big and small ones, each one of them I can see, everything still tinted red.

I cut off my chakra and snapped open my eyes, filling my lungs with air. I was not aware of how much chakra I've used, and now I feel exhausted.

_What was that_? I thought to myself.

Thunder clashed in the distance, I remembered the coming storm, and caught the scent of mother's cooking, I rushed back home before either the rain or mother's wrath falls on me.

* * *

_Next day_

I woke to the light streaming in from the window above my bed, my head slightly throbbing. The red tinted vision played in my dreams; I've got to ask someone about it...to see if I'm really going insane.

I got up, did the usual morning routine. Brush my teeth, wash my face, hair, clothes and do my bed. Next is breakfast, I felt my stomach grumble but it made no noise, no audible noise.

I walked into our small, warm kitchen. White tiles around the lower half of the wall and white paint over cement on the top half. I found mother standing next to the stove with a frypan in her hands, I sniffed the air, omelettes. I grabbed my chair and sat down.

'Ohayo- (Good Morninggggg!)' I stretching and elongating the sound.

'Oh, you're up! Did you sleep well last night?'

'Yahaaaaya,' whatever came out was a combination of yes and yawning at the same time.

'Ham and bacon or bacon and ham?'

I laughed at my mother's humour, 'Ham and bacon please!'

I watched my mother skilfully toss two omelettes into the two awaiting plates next to the stove and left one in the pan. It looked so cool! I wanted to try.

She carried the two plates to the table and handed me a fork out of the two she was already holding. When did she do that? Getting the fork, that is.

'Itadakimasu! (Thank you for the food!)' we said in unison.

'So where's father?' I asked.

'Has he ever gotten up before I forcefully pull him out?' Toss is more like it.

That was a rhetorical question, 'No!' I still answered.

We laughed for a while, the mental images of father being forcefully tossed out of bed playing in my head. Drool marks on the side of his face along with bed marks (those red lines when you press your face to the sheets) and those half-lidded confused eyes as he sat up from the floor, or where ever he managed to land after mother's tossing session. The 'tossing' session usually sonsists of: First, unroll father from 'Katsuo quilt Wrap'; Second, wrestle the 'Sleeping wrestler' to free the pillow imprisoned within father's iron grasp; and Third, roll/push/pull/toss or anything to get him off the bed, doesn't matter where he lands.

After the laughing hesteria died down, I decided it was time to ask mother the question.

'Mother?'

'Hmm?'

'Do you see things when you close your eyes?'

Mother laughed, 'No, theoretically you are only supposed to see the back of your eyelids.'

'But...' I looked down to my omelettes, picking them half-heartedly with my fork.

'Is something wrong? Rika?' mother frowned, concern slipped into her tone.

I told mother about the red vision.

Mother noticeably turned pale; I wondered if I had really gone mad.

'Rika, can we discuss this some other time?'

Taking this as an end to the conversation, I nodded my head. Still confused about mother's reaction, I finished my omelettes and went out to torture the oak tree.

* * *

Ren put down her fork and supported her elbow on the table and her forehead on her palm, face extremely pale. (Simpler said, facepalm)

_I hoped so much that this would never happen to her, but I knew from the beginning it will. Why? Why so early._

Her thought was interrupted by movement in the living room. If it was just any other day, Ren would tease Katsuo for the fact that he woke up 'early', but her heart just wasn't in it today.

Katsuo stepped around the corner of the wall when he saw a pale Ren sitting at the table. He walked over and saw Rika training through the small window above the sink.

Katsuo have only taught Rika the basics: basic cloning techniques, basic taijutsu, chakra control and the use of shuriken and kunai. He watched Rika as she repeatedly hit the oak tree with several shurikens and a couple of kunais.

'Katsuo...'

The dark skinned male turned around to face Ren.

'Rika, I'm afraid that the clan might want her back...'

Katsuo frowned. 'What makes you think they are going to take her back after so many years? They could've just tracked us down back then. But they didn't.'

'...'

'And they wouldn't go to trouble seeking a child that might not even awaken.'

'Katsuo, I think she has.'

Even though his skin was naturally dark, the blood draining from his face was still noticeable.

'What?' he breathed.

'Kenbikyo Eizou**…' Katsuo winced. His gaze moved again to gaze out the small window, where Rika was now attempting to walk up the other side of theoak tree without using her hands, just as he taught her. He observed silently as she reached the top with ease and sat down on the highest branch. He turned back to face Ren once more.

'Let's just hope the clan doesn't find us.'

* * *

I sat on the highest branch of the oak tree which I now feel obligated to apologise to. I can't even count the dents I made in its trunk with Kunais and Shurikens. The branch moaned under my weight, I'm clearly not welcomed to temporarily accommodate myself upon it.

Dismissing the fact that the branch I have chosen to sit on wasn't the most stable, I pulled my legs up and hugged my knees. There wasn't even anywhere to rest my heels, so the position was tiring rather than relaxing, but I stayed like that anyway.

I sat there and watched as nature stirred under the warmth of the sun and the soft caressing of the wind.

Absent-mindedly, I reached out and stroked a single green leaf on the branch, its surface so smooth yet it's edges are jagged and sharp. I caught it in between my index and thumb, tugged gently and the leaf came off the tree.

The branch moaned again, this time the sound reverberated through the entire trunk to each branch. One thing I'm sure about, this tree's hostility towards me was totally self-inflicted. I sighed and muttered an apology, not because I'm insane, talking to a plant.

Raising my arm and resting my elbow on my knee, I lifted the leaf up to my face. My eyes felt strangely heavy-lidded and I closed my eyes. I focused my chakra and the red vision came back. This time I was able to control where I look and which object I focus on. I zoomed on the leaf, until I saw its little squares, layer after layer, on top of each other, like cells.

I forced my chakra into the leaf. A crackling sound rang in my ear, electricity ran through the leaf as one particular area I focused on burnt and the what I suposed was the cell structures destroyed. I smelt the burning scent, then a shooting pain came from my thumb and I opened my eyes to see a tiny hole made as the result of my attempt along with a tiny burn mark on my index.

I realised I was sweating after a drop slid down the side of my face. _Was that__ electricity? I only injected my chakra into this leaf…_

Unanswered questions claimed my thoughts. _My father and mother never told me anything about the red vision or the electricity, am I really going insane?_ I hit my forehead against my palm and shook my head several times to confirm my sanity._ And why did mother react like that? _I looked down at the leaf now in my lap. _I don't even think it's powerful, all of that straining just made a tiny hole…_I paused my questions as a thought occurred to me, in the form of another question. _What are they keeping from me?_

* * *

In between the clouds of Kumogakure, a construction stood tall and proud at the peak of a mountain, the residence of the Aoki clan, a clan of great power, renowned to be the greatest clan of Kumogakure. Traditional wooden huts of various sizes occupied the mountain top with one tall tower that rose high above the ground, higher than any other building of the residence.

A sickly child about the age of 12 lie on a bed in one of the rooms in the tower, medical ninjas surrounded the child as he coughed violently. Visible burn marks treated with special ointments, and wounds treated hastily with stitches strained over his weakened, fragile skin that threatened to rip every time he hacked. The boy was in extreme pain, a sensation he was told to temporarily erase with his forced powers.

A heart monitor beeped irregularly, each ear-splitting sound caused a shudder down the spine. The beeping accelerated as the boy's breathing became more laboured. The medic nins surrounding him moved around faster, looking very busy, but doing nothing helpful at all.

A figure with a mask stood next to the doorway, she listened to the painful beeping of the monitor, heard it accelerate into an impossible speed only to stop abruptly. She shuddered. _Another life…_She reached out a hand to push the door.

Heavy footsteps resounded in a corridor as she headed for the top of the tower. Step, by step, up the grim stairway.

At its top was a grand doorway. The woman knocked on the doors that reached up to the ceiling, another man's voice, muffled, permitted the masked woman's entrance. The doors screeched while they were pushed or pulled open by an invisible force. She kneeled down.

On the other side of the door, a grand hall filled with a powerful aura. On the wall opposite the doors, was a huge gold relief carving of a bird surrounded by fire. The phoenix. The Aoki clan is known for their powerful bird summoning techniques and the ultimate summoning any Aoki can achieve was the phoenix.

Just below the relief carving, there stood the man whose muffled voice was earlier heard, the man was none other than the leader of the proud Aoki clan, Masao Aoki. He turned his head slightly, looked at the woman with a side glance, an unvoiced question asked.

'Another failure,' she said emotionlessly, her words suggested that this death wasn't the first. Masao sighed.

'This is not good; forcing a bloodline limit into their body with medical ninjutsu does too much damage to the muscle tissues and the chakra system, not to mention the huge strain on the body caused by the implanting process. Even if we use a person that is related to the Kimura family, the DNA still wouldn't work, It appears that the Kekkei Genkai is only limited to the immediate family of Usagi Kimura. We have to use children, because an adult's body rejects another DNA much more violently. What can we do?' Masao thought out loud, burying his face in his right hand.

'Masao-sama, we still have one other option…'

Masao jerked his head from his hand and glared at the masked woman. A little smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

'Yes, that's right. All we have to do is track down the Oringinal. I've got a plan, the new plan is the old plan. Sayomi, I want you to track down Ren Kimura and Katsuo Aoki along with their child, Aoki Rika. I want you to bring back the child _alive_, the others I don't care, do what you must to bring back the child. Take a team available with you, I suggest someone within our clan that is in the ANBU.'

'Yes, Masao-sama.'

'And one more thing, don't let the word spread'

With that, the masked woman disappeared. Katsuo lifted his head up to the golden phoenix, 'With luck I might be able to meet you again, _brother_.'

* * *

I had to get the groceries alone, _again._ I hate the crowed town, so much noise, so much scent, so much movement. There's just too much going on for anyone to focus on their own thoughts. Silence, space, just exactly what I need right now. The information obtained from mother and father yesterday still needs to sink in, I needed time. It's just too confusing.

_I returned home to find mother and father sitting around the dining table, their faces grave. I closed the door behind me and they turned their head towards me upon hearing the creaking of the door. I noticed mother averting her eyes, father beckoned me to sit on a vacant chair. I went over, pulled the chair out and sat down facing father. The air is tense and awkward, I don't like it, I don't like it at all._

'_Rika, what you asked your mother before, the red vision…' Father began, I stayed silent and waited for him to continue, my question will finally be answered. 'You have a Kekkei Genkai.' I continued to stay silent, but this time in shock._

'_The Kekkei Genkai you have, it allows you to see cell structures within a living body or once alive organism, being able to see cell structures also means you can multilate or repair these cell and cell structures. This power is destructive, deadly. I warn you to never use this power again. If you use this power, it will bring danger to our family, to __you__.'_

_I nodded, still shocked. __**I have a Kekkei Genkai? And it holds massive destruction power? **_

'_I understood father, I will not use that _thing_ again.' I answered, I really don't understand._

_From the corner of my eye, I saw mother sigh in relief, I saw her relax her fist that was held so tight that her knuckles turned white._

_Father stood up and went into the living room, ruffling my untied hair and managing a smile, leaving mother and I in the kitchen. She raised her head to stare into my eyes. 'Rika, I have promised you, we will always be by your side.' She got up and pushed the chair back with the back of her knees and walked around the table to me and caught me in a tight hug. 'We love you.' Mother whispered in my ear. 'Er, I love you too.' I hugged back._

So apparently I have this massive destruction power that I'm not supposed to use at all, and if I use it, it will bring danger to my family.

I sighed, still carrying the bag of groceries that's supposed to last a whole week.

_Why do I always cause trouble for my parents? Why do I always need them to protect me? Why can't I just at least be helpful to them? And now I'm putting them in danger with this stupid Kekkei Genkai of mine._

I raised my hand up to swipe away a strand of hair that escaped from the hair tie which kept my black mess in a high pony tail.

_I must not use the power again, that is the least I can do for them, and I just hope that nothing will happen._

No matter how much I prayed and hoped, telling myself nothing will happen, I still have this feeling that something bad will soon occur.

* * *

**A/N:** So there you go. Just to clarify, Rika has Lightning natured Chakra, but she doesn't know. The Kenbikyo Eizou is the bloodline limit from her mother, not the Aoki clan.

*Kekkei Genkai - Bloodline Limit

**Kenbikyo Eizou - Microscopic Vision

Thank you so much ScarletDivinity for your great advices! I really needed them. So I merged the current chapters into two, the next few chapters will clear up any confusions and add detail to some pretty vague concepts in this story. I still need more advices, and most importantly how old do you thing Rika is? Because my friend said that the way she speak is too formal and made her sound old... =_="


	3. 11th A rank

**Disclaimer: I don't own Deidara (oh how I wish) and any other original Naruto characters or concepts. **

* * *

Another mission. Just because I've recently become a jounin doesn't mean I can accept endless A-rank and B-rank missions, hm. I've had enough of this, already the 11th A-rank I've received since the day I was appointed jounin. Such tight schedules and an infinite number of missions mean no chance to even get a proper rest, even the time to take a deep breath and calm all my nerves was reduced to nearly none, and just imagine the suffering of my sanity and my art, hm. The missions bring me not only overwhelming tiredness, but also dulled sentiments, my brain does not function properly and it feels like I'm losing the ability to appreciate my art.

_Art is fleeting, transient, a short-lived existence, a flamboyant performance before disappearing, withered away, never to be seen again. Art is a Bang, hm._

I kept on reminding myself of my passion, my life, my motto I live by, _my_ art, hm, something foolish people will _never _understand and appreciate.

And I'm becoming foolish myself, hm. The limited remnants of my sense and sanity panicked at my lack of appreciation, appreciation that was gradually dulled by tiredness, repetition and my general life style, hm.

Another drawback of the life style that I am now forced to adapt to, is the lack of freedom, hm. Whatever the surreptitious old geezer tells me to do, I have to do, just because he's the Tsuchikage, tch, a Tsuchikage that's too old. Go retire already, old man.

I also have two very problematic teammates, hm. They are too enthusiastic about missions for my own good and also extremely obedient to old geezer Onki's orders, which causes me a great deal of trouble, hm, since I have the disadvantage of one versus two on the matter of whether or not to accept missions.

Not like there were any options to begin with, hm. This kind of situation will only have one outcome, a _definite_ loss.

I increased my speed in rage, the result that concludes my train of thought angers me. I always have to be dragged out here doing things for people I barely know, hm, and I don't really care if their dam is in the process of weakening and their little settlement will be washed away, neither do I care about a lost cat stuck in a tree, and most of all, I do not care about a serial criminal that some cowardly daimyo announced 'too dangerous to approach by us common people', not to mention that the 'crime' was _theft_.

Unfortunately, that is the exact mission we were given, to capture some dangerous serial thief! Ha! _Serial _thief! Let's try name a thief that is not cereal (serial)!

All I really care about is my art, hm. I don't want to be here running hours on end through the vast Rocklands of nothingness, all the way to the outer skirts of The Land of Earth just to catch some thief. I want to be at a peaceful, isolated place, for _me_ and _myself,_ making _my_ art, explosions, hm.

I have tried rejecting this ridiculous mission in so many ways, I have even threatened to blow the damn Tsuchikage's residence into rubble, hm. But no! The oh-so-obedient Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi accepted the mission without even considering my situation here, hm.

It's not like they ever care about my opinions anyway, hm. I'm just here because they need at least one jounin on the team to receive A-rank missions, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi (being still chunnins) were thrilled to be able to take on A-rank missions. But really, I'm the one doing all the work here, hm, they always use the excuse that I'm a jounin, the leader of the team _and_ I'm supposed to protect them, hm. Well, Kurotsuchi mainly, because Akatsuchi says almost nothing other than agreeing with the obnoxious girl, which I'd rather not have him do, hm.

I looked up to the blue sky, contrasting the brown grey rocks of the land. I sighed. _How nice would it be to be free, how nice would it be to be released from responsibility, how nice would it be to do whatever I want?_ But I know all of those wishes cannot come true in the near future, hm. My current concern is get to the small village located at the edge of Land of Earth catch that thief, or maybe kill him because I feel like it, hm, he's wanted dead _or_ alive, and get back to Iwagakure, to my sanctuary, hm.

Hours, hours and hours of running surely takes its toll on the body, hm, especially when someone tries to preserve his ego, running a lot faster than necessary and keep ahead a certain distance to isolate himself from two other aggravating individuals, hm.

* * *

When I got to the village (notice I said _I_ not _we_), my legs were on the verge of giving out, hm. Looking around desperately for a teashop or whatever to give a break to my legs and gather information on the whereabouts might I find the thief, I noticed the suspicious atmosphere of the town. Nearly no one is on the streets, and I can feel the intense scrutiny of numerous people boring down on my back.

Just as I saw the slightest movement behind closed blinds at the nearest window, I felt a hard slap on my shoulder, that informed me that I have company, company that I tried so hard to get rid of all the way here, hm.

'Deidara-nii, you should run slower and wait for us. After all, you are the jounin of the team and should protect us, right?' Kurotsuchi's threateningly sweat voice mixed with accusation and sarcasm sent waves of pain through my eardrums.

I tilted my head to see Akatsuchi's large, meaty hand on my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow and glared at him. After several seconds, he finally lifted his heavy hand from me. The urge to raise my hand and brush off his skin cells from my clothing was suppressed only by the complaints of my deltoid, hm. Instead, I turned my head and continued my expedition to find a dango shop, teashop or whatever.

We walked another few blocks before we stopped at a worn building that only suggested a sweets shop from the dangling sign beside the door. The place has an atmosphere of unwelcome and hostility. But my legs are getting too painful to worry about that, hm.

We walked in, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi following. They always follow me without questioning, which I am thankful of, hm. I do things _my _way, hm, others don't need to understand, they have two options: follow me or leave me alone, hm. We have been on a team for- for what, 5 years now? - they know me well enough to not ask what we are doing in a sweets shop, hm, their questions will be simply ignored.

I pushed the sliding door aside, a wind chime within the sweet shop clanged as the cool air rushed past me into the shop, causing some small loose hair to escape my hair tie and whip me in the face, hm.

The inside of the shop is dark and cold, the lack of decorations and the small number of tables and chairs deliver the message clearly: customers are not welcomed.

The hostility of the shop atmosphere is strangely contrasted by a cordial looking shop owner. The shop owner is an elderly woman, short and plum, the creases and wrinkles on her skin rippled as the corners of her mouth pulled into a friendly smile.

On the sight of our arrival, she prepared tea in three aged cups and invited us to sit at a table in the far corner of the shop.

Kurotsuchi skipped happily past me and sat down at the table.

'Thank you, Obaachan, I really appreciate your tea!' chimed Kurotsuchi in such an annoying way.

The ground underneath vibrated as Akatsuchi's heavy footsteps advanced towards Kurotsuchi and the table. I stood where I am; both the woman and the shop are suspicious, hm. No, not only the shop, the whole town is radiating an eerie aura, hm. I don't like it, hm. I stood there for another few seconds, before the pain in my legs became unbearable.

I sat down and grabbed the 'vacant' cup of tea. Just realising how dehydrated I am when my lips came in contact with the hot liquid, hm, I ended up pouring all the contents of the cup down my throat.

'It's so nice to have someone visit us once in a while, not a lot of people come to my humble little sweet shop these days.' The elderly woman said. She reappeared from what seemed to be like a kitchen, her voice high pitched and shaky with age. _What a juxtaposition, the shop is clearly not welcoming visitors from the outside, hm, if you want more customers, it's called renovation Baa-chan, renovation. _

She brought out a tray of Iwa Mochi. With another tea pot hanging on her elbow.

A hand shot out and grabbed a mochi before the tray even touched the table. Embarrassingly, the huge meaty hand belongs to a certain member of my team, specifically Akatsuchi. _Typical, hm_, let me guess; next, Kurotsuchi will tell him how _impolite_ his action was.

'Akatsuchi! That was very impolite!'

_Bingo_

The elderly woman laughed, 'It's alright! I'm happy that someone is so eager to taste my handmade mochis!'

I rolled my eyes, why would anyone be happy just because someone snatched a handmade mochi off them, hm. This Baa-san needs to get a life, hm, a _life_.

Kurotsuchi smiled idiotically at the granny, 'Please excuse my teammate, he's always like that.'

After another smile in Kurotsuchi's direction, the elderly woman turned her attention to me, attention I do not want, hm, 'Young man over there, you seem pretty unhappy, is it that my mochis are not good enough? Maybe I should go make another dozen?' Her concerned voice is making me sick.

I felt a kick on my shin from under the table, lifted my head up to see Kurotsuchi glaring at me. Inwardly cursing to have picked this damn shop in the first place with such an annoying granny whirling and buzzing around us, hm, 'it's fine, the mochis are fine.'

'Then…'

'It's nothing' I snapped, harsher than I have intended.

Obaachan stepped back a bit; I can feel a glare more intense than before focusing on my face, hm. To compensate my harshness, I continued in a softer voice, 'We are on a mission here, we need some information. We hope that you can help us.'

The reason I came here, hm, I got straight to business.

'So you young people are ninjas, eh? It's so good to see young people being so active, it makes us old people jealous, ha-ha. So tell me what information it is you want?'

'The so-called dangerous serial thief,' I suppressed a sneer at those words, 'His name was Hama, hm?' I noticed her face paled at the name. _Huh, so that's how _dangerous_ this thief is._ 'We need to know his location so we can capture him for our mission. If you know any places where he might be or where he was last seen then please tell us.'

The old granny lifted her right hand over her parted mouth to cover a gasp. 'Oh my, who would send such young people to such a horrible man?'

I rolled my eyes again; who does she think we are? We are ninjas, hm, ninjas! Capturing a thief will be such an easy task for me, hm, and I don't even know why the hell the mission allocation team put this in A-rank.

'Don't worry, Obaachan, we are very skilled ninjas! And Deidara-nii over there is already Jounin!' Kurotsuchi chimed with her 'sweet' voice.

'Oh that's great, but, such young children are to capture such a horrible man? Oh no, this is bad, who would do that? It was said from the victims of Hama that he make them see really horrible images in their mind, when they have either fainted or paralysed Hama takes all their belongings, it was said that the mental state of nearly all the victims have not been stable since. This man is very dangerous!'

Huh? This is interesting, hm. A dangerous serial thief who uses genjutsu?

'Obaachan, if you know the whereabouts of Hama then please tell us, hm.' I urged the granny, impatience seeping into my voice.

'Oh, the whole entire town know where he is! He's always in one place. He stays there because he know no one will dare to approach him.'

'Really? Obaachan, please tell us!' that'd be Kurotsuchi.

'On a hill at the far west of this town, there's an abandoned wooden hut. Hama currently resides there. But be really careful, young men and ladies. There was said to be a lot of traps and barriers. A lot of people tried to capture Hama, but some of them returned heavily injured, some didn't return at all. Tis a horrible place to be near.' She shook her head as she trailed off.

This is enough information, hm. We don't need to stay here any longer. I stood up and walked out of the shop without a backwards glance. There's no need to thank that granny, hm, even when there's no need Kurotsuchi will thank her anyway.

'Thank you, Obaachan! That was really helpful! We better get going now!' yep, as I expected.

Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi caught up after paying and we headed towards the west of the town.

Back in the sweet shop, the shop owner looked down at the 2 cups of cold tea, one empty one and a small plate of Iwa Mochis.

'Hai, that was such a waste.'

* * *

I'm really sorry for the late update and the cramped text before, now I fixed it. I'm trying to work out another storyline on Deidara's side, plus my school has started and I've got like 6 assessment tasks in 4 weeks. I've been re-writing and editing lots of my early chapters, there's more and more details being filled in, I'm a very jumpy writer so if you really don't get things by the time I publish the next chapter, it's because I've re-writen the previous chapters to slightly change the storyline. I'm really really sorry for the inconvience. And yes, if there's any ideas, comments or opinions please review or PM to tell me.


	4. Hama and His Traps

I feel like using the Romanised version of Deidara's 'un/hm' from the Japanese manga, rather than just using 'hm' for closer sound, so now, all the hm's are changed to un's. Took me forever to do that, my Ctrl+F tool found heaps of irrelevant stuff, so I had to do it manually.

Disclaimer: I can't be bothered to type the same thing, you know what goes here.

* * *

The town is sure small compared to Iwagakure, twenty minutes of running and we have reached the west side of the town from the eastern border, un.

We followed a wide road that ran down town, the road has packed buildings all along it, but there are barely any people on the road.

The west is just like the east side, tattered wooden buildings with blinds closed, some small road-side shops and grocery stalls with a few people selling and buying. The same eerie atmosphere hang in the air, fear, un. There were a few people walking around in hurry, they glanced at us in distrust, surprise and concern. A few paper decorations with its colour bleached by the sun, wind and rain hang on to poles for dear life, here and there, traces of the once lively town, un.

We walked further and further to the west, where more and more unkempt and abandoned buildings stood in solitude. The fear in the air grew denser, pressing heavily against my chest, making it hard to breath.

As the rows and rows of buildings ended, a big and spacious meadow was presented to us, or what is left of a once beautiful meadow, un. The ground is barely visible through the tall, yellow grass; possessive weeds seem to take over every single inch of the land. At the highest point of what seemed like a hill (I can't exactly tell since the grass is just so absurdly tall, un) stood the lone silhouette of a wooden hut.

The current hide-out of our target, Hama, un.

It was said to know your enemy before approaching them, but this target is just too easy to capture, un, dead or alive, so I didn't bother with the files given to us with the mission; the files that are sitting in Iwagakure, under a certain bed, specifically my bed, gathering dust, un.

From what I recall of the last time I scanned through those files, 2 weeks ago, Hama was a thief; and that's about all I remember. Helpful, isn't it, un?

But that was all I needed, un. Together with the information gathered within this village, Hama is a thief, a dangerous serial thief, un, who uses genjutsu to paralyse or immobilise his victim, then steal the valuables when the victim is unable to fight back, a cowardly method of operation if you ask me. Due to the fact that he uses genjutsu, I might guess that he was once a ninja, un, or attempted to be one but failed; both of the options mean he can use other basic ninjutsu and taijutsu which won't cause us a problem, basic skills won't be enough to win against two chuunins and one jounin, un.

The current concern would be the traps, barriers and the genjutsu, un. Anyone can set up traps without being a ninja, how effective a trap is depends on the trap setter's intelligence; an intelligent normal person might set a trap that even a ninja cannot escape, un. Of course, being a ninja does have advantages in trap setting, we are able to reach places to set triggers and hide weapons that normal people can't reach, un.

The barriers may be a problem; Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi and I are not the 'barrier and traps' type, my team is better at strategy, defence and head-on attack, un. But even if there are barriers, I can always just enter from underground, un, which also avoids the traps; normally people don't set traps underground, they don't set barriers underground either, un.

I'll just send a clone underground to detect if there's barriers and traps down there, un, If there happen to be barriers or traps underground, I'll just set a massive explosion and blow the whole place up, un. All I need to do then is just preserve Hama's head and hand it over to the authorities, un.

I should stop the planning already, over-analysing and preparing for every little possibility isn't my style, un. One has to think on the spot and adapt to the situation, that's why artists are so suitable for battles, un.

I reached for the pouch of ninja tools strapped on my waist, traced my hand along 7 kunais, 15 shurikens, 5 explosive tags and a chunk of clay that I managed to squeeze in, that took up most of the space, un.

I stopped at about 300 metres from the hut, at the bottom of the hill where the tall grass starts. The grass looked almost menacing; tall, a disgusting shade of yellow with extremely sharp points, some of the grass bent down in a particular angle that it looked like their are pointed spears aiming at us.

I am pretty sure that Hama would be setting traps within the grass, where triggers and weapons are much harder to spot, un. We need to conceal our presence from here and advance in care, un. I looked back over my shoulder; Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi have already drew out kunais. I caught their gaze and nodded a signal to conceal our chakra.

* * *

Hacking and pushing away at the grass, we inched closer to the hut where Hama would be residing, keeping an eye out for triggers and traps, un.

At about 250 metres from the hut, I caught a shimmer of light on the ground beneath Akatsuchi's impending foot, instincts and sense made me throw a shuriken at him and, as he dodged, forced him to step away from the thin line, un. The shuriken indented itself upon the tree behind, 3 cm from Akatsuchi's head. He froze in an awkward position: right arm swung to the left in a somewhat defensive style, right leg lifted up, face staring straight from above his arm and the right side cheek twitching…the typical anime style 'shocked' pose, tch.

'Deidara! What the – '

I silenced Akatsuchi by putting a finger on my lips, the universal body language for 'Be quiet.'

Crouching down to have a closer look at what I think is a trap, I noticed the string was 5 cm above ground and lead to somewhere behind a rock and a dense area of tall grass, un. Kurotsuchi noticed too, she followed the string to investigate where it led to. I averted my eyes to inspect Akatsuchi, who was in the same awkward position as I had left him 2 seconds ago. He had no injuries…maybe pulled a cheek muscle or something, un.

Checking back on Kurotsuchi, I saw her standing next to the thick grass that may possibly have the weapons for the trap hidden behind. Kurotsuchi lifted a hand to push the grass away so that she can see behind it.

Another shimmer of light circled the base of the grass. Just realising that the string was also wrapped around the grass, I tried to make Kurotsuchi stop but it was too late. The grass moved to the side, pulling the string with it, un.

There was silence for what seemed like the longest second, then weapons come flying towards us in every direction. Two kunais whizzed past my ear, explosive tags on the ground going off right at the spot I am going to step on and other triggers on tree branches and in bushes that are inevitable, un.

The first thing I got to say, this Hama guy has some brain. By the pattern of traps and triggers, it is set so that whoever manages to avoid the initial traps must step into another, un. Lucky or skilled people who manages to avoid those traps are usually already in a much bigger trap, as we later realised. If you want to avoid the traps, there is only one way out, even for us ninjas, we must either be dead or travel down a pre-planned route intended by Hama, un.

After much running and jumping around, we arrived finally at a spot where no one set off any traps anymore. It was a clearing of about 100 metres in diameter with the lone hut in the centre.

At this point, the somewhat unfit Akatsuchi is already panting and sweating. Kurotsuchi just focused on the hut.

'You should be more careful next time, un! If you haven't been so careless moved the grass we wouldn't have set off the trap!' I charged as much venom into my tone as possible.

'Oh, so it's my fault now!' Kurotsuchi retorted, turning around to face Akatsuchi, 'Who was the one that was going to set off the trap because of _his _carelessness in the first place!'

'Hey, hey. Don't say that, not my fault, I'd expect a strong girl like you and a jounin would have the capacity to pay attention to things that I don't. Never thought you two are as careless as I am.

I can feel Kurotsuchi tensing, her temper isn't that great either. But mine's worse. Being put on the same level of carelessness as Akatsuchi is insulting. I was getting ready to blow Akatsuchi to pieces when Kurotsuchi suddenly took a fighting stance, I looked back to the hut, Hama was standing there.

* * *

Hama, a man in his early 40's, about 175cm tall, dark choppy hair and have a scar running down from his left upper eyelid to this throat. Matches the documents I received pretty well. And also some added information, he is pretty smart, plans battles well, likes to use traps and a amateur ninja.

Anger boiled out of no where as a though occured to me. Setting traps in a particular way with a provided escape route that leads straight to him, who does he think he is? It is like he is saying, _Come and find me if you can, I have provided an escape route, if you survive come and find me_. This has now turned into a face-to-face battle, don't think this old amateur can outwit us professionals.

The distance between him and us is only 50 metres, the land has no obstacles growing. I took out a shuriken and threw it straight towards Hama.

The shuriken flew straight at th target, but at a point 10 metres from him, the shuriken bounced off with a clang. A barrier.

As soon as the weapon touched the ground, the earth exploded and , a circle of land mines went off at 2 metres from the original mine.

Startled, I tore my gaze away from the remains of the shuriken and glared at our objective, he returned my glare with a smirk. 'Welcome, you brave little rats! As I can see, you are from Iwa.' – he tapped his forehead – 'If you want to capture me, wait another 50 years! Although my ninjutsu might not be so great, no one can win against me brain! Hahahaha!' Hama's provoking speech has already made my blood boil with anger, but his hysterical laughter just made it much worst. You can say I'm very quick tempered, that's what people always say.

'Shut up! We will definitely catch you and I'll make sure you are tore into pieces, un!' I dug out a kunai and everyone got into fighting position.

'Ha! No need to be so hasty, first you have to get to me! If you are lucky enough to get away with all the landmines, there's still my barrier that you'll need to break. Good luck! I'll just go and get a chair out to watch this show!' As he finished, he disappeared into the hut, supposedly, to get a chair.

I gritted my teeth. Who does he think he is? We are jounins and chunnins of Iwagakure! I would not let him underestimate me!

Strategy time, he has land mines all in this 40 metre rounded area, with a barrier the radius of 10 metre around himself (A/N picture a doughnut, the bread part is the 40m radius area with the landmine, the whole is the 10m radius of the barrier).

According to my observation from the previous explosion, each mine affected a circle of about 1 metre radius. If any normal people happen to step on the land mines they are doomed, the time interval between the explosions is only enough time for a normal person to step out one step, the longest distance any normal person can manage to travel in that time span cannot be longer than 3 metres, so they are either killed by the initial mine or killed/heavily injured by the mines following.

I got to say, the placement of the mines are well thought, but don't forget, we shinobi aren't normal people. Also, when you play a game with explosives, be sure to know who you are playing against, stupid or amateur shinobis might have a hard time getting through this field filled with landmines, but playing this game with explosive experts is not a good idea, un.

First, through my own experiences with explosives, I can be sure they are one of the finest arts that ever existed. The fleeting moment of the blast, expresses all its overwhelming beauty in such a short amount of time, and then leaving its awestruck audience gaping, the key to its beauty is its transience. A fine piece of art cannot be seen again and again, or even twice, therefore the same explosive cannot explode more than once, otherwise they will not be art, un.

All we have to do to get to the other side is throw shurikens or kunais at 2 metre intervals from the one I threw before and set the explosives off before we step on them.

'Throw shurikens or kunais at two metre intervals from the place where Deidara-nii's one landed, try to create a path we can step on without touching any other mines.' Kurotsuchi announced. Hey! I thought of that first!

Akatsuchi threw a kunai, as it landed 2 metres from the one I threw before, the mines below it created a 'dust-mushroom', we had to wait until the dust settled before throwing another one for better aim.

During our task of path-building, Hama took out a chair and also a cup of tea. He put the chair down on his front porch facing us and sat down. He watched intently but the intensity was flawed by the constant sipping on the tea. I was angered further by his attitude towards us. What are we, huh? He better take us seriously.

Apparently Kurotsuchi finished the path. Just to be precautious, 'Kurotsuchi, step on the exact spot of the weapon, just in case.' She nodded and started jumping straight on top of the weapons that made our path. Drawing chakra to her feet to both increase her jumping distance and to prevent the weapons from making a hole in her foot, she's somewhat proficient, contrasting the obvious clumsiness of Akatsuchi who is following closely behind her.

I was just about to hop onto the shuriken closest to me when Hama laughed maniacally, several other sounds companying with his laugh include the sound of gurgling water as he choked on his tea. I stopped midway on my task to face the man choking on tea, waiting for his eye contact and gave him the deadliest glare I can manage.

But to my dismay, it made him laugh even harder resulting my volcanic temper to stir and build up. I clenched my fists to stop the urge to run over and punch him squarely in the face.

His laughter died down with choked coughs, attempting to get some tea leaves out of his airway. 'I gotta say *cough* I've been wondering this since I saw you *cough* Are you a boy or a girl? Seriously *cough cough* First I thought you were a girl, with that hair of yours *cough* Argh. Then you spoke and that voice is definitely a boy's. Maybe you are just a gender confused kid? Hahaha, don't worry, boy. I'll show you how to be a man!And what's with the 'un, un, un' at the end of your sentences? Do you have speech impediment too?'

'That's enough! I don't need _you_ to teach me how to be a man!' I can feel the lava seeping over the edge of pyroclastic rocks.

'Oh, yeah? Seeing that you don't know how to teach _yourself_ how to be a man, I'm actually offering to help, have more gratitude, girly-boy!' Another wave of manic laughter broke the already fragile container of my temper, and when my temper is let loose, I don't think properly. Instinctively, I reached inside my side pouch, manoeuvred my fingers past all my usual ninja equipments, different types of tags and finally reached what I was looking for. The touch was unmistakable; cold and slightly wet, I can never mistaken the feel of clay with anything else.

'Don't call me that, un!' I warned.

I saw Kurotsuchi start moving again at the corner of my eye, but that doesn't concern me. All I know is that my strongest bomb can definitely break that barrier of his, un. And I can't stand that attitude anymore, what is better, is that my bomb would actually break through that barrier and blow Hama into pieces along the way. Yeah, that'd be good. I don't even care anymore that we had to at least bring his corpse, who needs his corpse anyway? The worst it can get without a corpse is that the village can't get the prize money and we would miss out on our payment, un. But who cares about the payment?

Yes, I am going to make this bomb and blow him to pieces. I can already see the red, orange, yellow, followed by black, grey. The beautiful colours of explosions, flashing past so fast and gone before you'd know it. The loud, deafening bang, the sudden released power that shook the ground; it is powerful, it is pleasuring, it is addicting, it is _art, un_.

I can feel the clay taking on shape and I was moulding, I can feel the power of it as I infused a large amount of suppressed chakra and I can feel it coming to life, and it's life will soon end with a bang.

The thoughts made me smile, but the smile was mixed with my angry and impatient expression. It probably looked more like a retarded try-hard sneer.

I looked down at my palm, there sat a small spider. I haven't been able to make them move on their own yet, once I have obtained the kinjutsu I will be able to control it from a distance, un. But for now, I'd have to throw it over.

I rose my hand and threw it with all my might, the spider flew out of my hand. I watched as it sailed gracefully across the sky, getting closer and closer to Hama, delivering his doom. And it's getting closer, closer –

Kurotsuchi! For the whole time, I haven't been paying any attention to her, and just as I was staring at the bomb flying, I spotted Kurotsuchi. She was close, _very _close to the barrier, and I was sure that she will get effected by the bomb. No, effected is not the word, judging from the amount of chakra I injected into the bomb and the distance she is from Hama (10m, she is at the barrier), she will be seriously injured, or even killed.

I don't have enough time to think, I can't stop the bomb from going off, it is made so that it automatically goes off on impact. _Only if I had the kinjutsu!_

My gaze started back to the bomb, it's getting ever closer.

Akatsuchi ran forward.

He was screaming and running.

He can't make it.

The bomb is about to touch the barrier.

'KUROTSUCHI!'

BANG!

* * *

Sorry about the delay guys, I have decided to fill my spare time wih Kuroshitsuji and Asian drama for the past month. Although their singing are crap, Fahrenheit's lyrics are pretty good. Jiro has awesome style. Aaron is just plain cute. Wu chun looks like a person wlked out of a manga (huge eyes). Calvin is...ugly. I should stop ranting...I think I rant too much in the story too.

ToGeTher and 14 Blades are awesome. Being slightly otaku and chinese I feel for the main characters.

Anyways, reviews make me happy. So please review and my day will get brighter with each review. :P

_'Slowly, __this little piece of love settled into my heart._

_Gradually, __your smile made me fill with expectancy._

_Faintly,__but always there,__is your love.' - Farenheit, Momo_


	5. The Flute

Hi guys! A new chapter! Just to inform you peoples, Deidara won't be appearing until sometime later, when everything with Rika is finished…which will be a long time, sorry. In this chapter, there is the mentioning of a flute piece, for reference to how it sounds like, visit http:/ aimini. net /view/?fid=5BdxSJYGGmW3Dk28OwL6 (without the spaces) It is the original flute soundtrack of Naruto, I really like it so I'm gonna use it XD…is that allowed? Anyways, there is piano accompaniment, just try to extract the piano parts in your mind…because your mind is able to do it and my computer skills can't. D:

I apologise for the length of the chapter, I found out that if the time span of waiting between chapters is in accordance with the actual content then it becomes more realistic...or is it just me DX Anyways, yeah, the next one will definetly be longer, I promise!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and blah blah blah, I only own what I own. And I don't own the flute piece.

* * *

I sat on the oak tree, the same tree that I have physically abused a few months ago. Its hostility hasn't changed a bit. Every time I walk past that tree, I always get tripped by its roots.

After getting tripped for the ten thousandth time, I had sworn to remember where its roots were positioned, but today, being the competitive person I am, I walked within the vicinity of the roots, thinking that I have known the positioning of the roots well enough, and the roots won't be enough to trip me, instead of walking far away from the tree to avoid any trouble.

I carefully watched where I placed my foot, none of the roots were able to trip me. Just as I was smiling at my success, my hair got tangled with a low branch and I had to battle the tree to free my hair.

It won the battle, but the war isn't ending much sooner. To make sure I get some payback, I walked up the tree and sat on its branch, intending it to bear my weight for at least 4 hours.

I really wasn't supposed to use chakra anymore. Swinging my legs around, I felt a tiny bit rebellious.

It has been a few months since I was told some previously unknown facts about my family. It was pretty overwhelming at first but now that the ripples have died down, it doesn't seem much. But sometimes my curiosity leads my mind into wondering about the unclear details, I still don't know what exactly the bloodline limit is, and what has it to do with our safety.

I have listened to my parents and never used that Kenbikyo haijd… – or whatever, that bloodline limit again.

Father also stopped training me in ninjutsu, that is both a good and bad thing. The good part is that I have more spare time, the bad thing is that I get bored more often.

I know that father stopped training me for my own sake, but I secretly wished he taught me ninjutsu. That way, I may be able to become stronger and protect my family. I secretly trained myself at the creek but all I can do is just master what my father already taught me. I can't go up to him and ask him to teach me new things, he obviously wouldn't.

I swung my legs back and forth; the branch creaked rhythmically in beneath me.

So boring, what can I do on a tree, already two hours down, but two more hours to go.

I searched my pockets for some entertainment, only to notice the existence of a newly acquired item tucked at my waist. I traced my hand along its long cylindrical shape, holes at certain intervals from each other on one side and the smooth texture of its surface. I smiled as I pulled it out.

One day, some months ago, our dining table lost one of its legs. Mother's strength is unbelievable. Yeah, so father and I were late for dinner because we were playing at the creek, and we were only a tiny bit late, like only 30 minutes late. Mother was so pissed that when we got back home, she was sitting at the table glaring at us. If eyes could kill I wouldn't be standing, no, sitting here now, I even doubt I would've been able to see the sunrise the next day. Her glare wasn't just threatening, scary, but also filled the atmosphere with murderous intent.

I noted a tiny bead of sweat rolling down father's forehead, my throat has become extremely dry and I swallowed hard. Father inhaled, preparing himself to try and talk us out of this potentially life-threatening situation.

He opened his mouth to speak, but mother stopped him by suddenly standing up and smashing her palms against the table top. No one dared to move an inch…except for one of the four table legs that took all of that force and snapped clean off. The table slowly tilted and our dinner ended up being fed to the floor.

Then the job of fixing the table automatically went to father, with no particular reason. I followed him around all day the next day, partly because of the boredom and partly because of guilt, I was the one who persuaded father to stay a bit longer at the creek, we ended up not having dinner and father has to fix the table.

He went into the basement, in search of tools. I am always fascinated by the things stored in the basement. Things that belonged to father and mother in their golden shinobi years. Different sized scrolls stacked in a triangular prism on the floor, kunai threaded through a string hanging off the wall, tags and potions placed on an old tattered shelf, there were just so much.

I am sort of glad that father and mother didn't keep the fact they were once ninjas from me, especially after reading novels with complex family conflicts(A/N, like those asian, especially Korean dramas). From when I was young my parents always home-schooled me, meaning that I always stayed at home, so they'd tell me bits and pieces of their past whenever they felt like it. I haven't missed a single thing they have talked about.

Father was from a big clan in Kumogakure, mother was an awesome medic nin and we moved here a long time ago. But like the case of the bloodline limit, they often skipped important parts of their tales, and sometimes I can tell when they try to cover something up, they often made up parts of their tales that obviously didn't fit. The more they tell me, the more questions form in my head.

Because of so much explained details, my imagination decides to fill in the blanks for me. I sometimes fantasise how mother and father would have lived in Kumogakure: a golden shinobi pair, with nothing they fear, respected but feared by everyone, that's some epic parents I have!

Father came back from the darker part of the basement, holding a box of tools in his left hand, intending to fix the dining table. In his right hand, there was a long cylindrical shape wrapped in brown cloth, I questioned father about it and he said he'll show me later…with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I followed him around and helped him fix the dining table. Although it is now standing upright, you can still see the huge crack on one of its legs, forcefully held together by nails stragetically positioned.

After we fixed the table that day, father took me outside and sat under _the _oak tree. Strangely enough, the tree almost seemed friendly when father's around, _almost_. I tripped on one of its roots. Father laughed and commented on my clumsiness and sat down at the base of the tree. I sat down next to father.

He brought along with him the long cylindrical wrapped in brown cloth. I always have a thing with mystery, the more mysterious something is, the more I want to uncover the secret. It's not just mysterious objects, reverse psychology works perfectly on me. The more people try to force or persuade an idea into me the more I reject I; the more people try to tell me what I should do, I do exactly the opposite. Whether or not it is good for me is not my main concern. If I don't go against it, I wouldn't feel right for the entire day.

Father unwrapped the brown cloth to reveal an ancient, brown bamboo flute. I reached out to inspect it closer. It was made out of high-quality bamboo, that much I can tell, it is clearly very old, like several generations old, but the wood itself is strong as ever - no cracks, no cavities. The lifeless bamboo was of a dark auburn, and the holes carefully placed made the flute look sophisticated and of complicated history. I never knew we had a flute. I stared at the flute wide-eyed. Father seems to be satisfied with my reaction, probably comprehended my shock as awe and went on with his seemingly well-rehearsed speech. 'This flute once belonged to my grandfather. Your great-grandfather. I got it from my father. It is made of the best materials around and has followed our family for three generations…' _Haha, no wonder it's so old, _I muttered to myself. I tuned out to father's speech easily and the time I tuned back in, father was playing the flute.

I was dumbfounded by the music. The notes flowed on flawlessly and peacefully. It made me feel so calm and peaceful. It made everything seem so perfect, so easy; nothing bad is ever going to happen. My family will live happily ever after in Kusagakure, no one will ever disturb us. I looked out over the grassy plain and the river, then to the horizon, the late afternoon sun casted a warm orange tint to the land, grass waving carefreely in the slight breeze. Birds tweeting in the branches near by, complementing the notes dancing slowly in the air, even the oak tree looked some what friendly. I closed my eyes to feel the warmth of the sun and listened to father play.

When he stopped I opened my eyes, he was smiling at me.

'Do you want to learn it?' Snapping back into reality from the temporary entrancement, I looked at father then nodded furiously. His smile spread even wider.

He taught me the song afterwards.

Twirling the flute between my fingers, I looked up to the bright blue sky; birds were flying freely above my head. I followed them with my eyes until they became small dots in the distant above the horizon.

I stopped spinning the flute and brought it to my lips. I held it the way father taught me to and inhaled, storing breath.

A gentle breeze passed through, I started playing the well-rehearsed tune. Since the day father taught me how to play this song, I've been practising day and night, since time is the only abundant element of my life, presently speaking.

I let my fingers move on their own, they already know what to do; let my ears hear nothing but the melody; let mind get erased of negative thoughts, with only peace and perfection of the world remaining; let my soul wonder into a previously unknown world, a world where there are no restrictions, a world where anything and everything can be expressed and there will always be an audience, as long as the process of producing this tune is still commencing.

The first few days that I've been learning the flute was hell, it was an all out war between the flute and me. My fingers won't move in the right way and it was hard to get my head around how to operate this horrid object, but soon I have learnt to befriend it and it helped me with the song rather than resisting. It has became a useful tactic since it seems like I could never overpower it. But soon enough, it was 'tamed'.

I played to my parents when I have perfected the song and mother said I play it was even better than father's playing. I can tell she was just encouraging me, she did that all the time when I was a child.

I love my family, I wish it can stay like this forever. Listening quietly to the beautiful melody, it almost seemed possible, but some dark warnings resounding at the back of my head never ceased.

* * *

Sayomi led her squad through the trees, weaving in and out with mastery agility. Under Masao's instructions, she was to locate and retrieve the daughter of clan leader's brother. After several months of information gathering, tracking and planning, she has finally located the current residence of Aoki Katsuo and Kimura Ren, along with their daughter Aoki Rika.

They have been living on the outskirts of Kusagakure for 12 years already, yet not many know of their existence. The squad searched from the Country of Water, Kirigakure, the entire Country of Fire, including Konohagakure, the Country of Rivers, the Country of Wind, with Sunagakure, then Amegakure. They then proceeded to search through the Country of Earth and within Iwagakure but there were no sign of the three. Just as the special ops team were about to head back to Kumogakure they heard news regarding the family in Kusagakure, and found out that Aoki Katsuo and his family are residing on the border of the Country of Earth and Kusagakure.

No one thought Aoki Katsuo and Ren would be hiding in such a small country, in fact, they have temporarily forgotten about the existence of the small village.

The five elite shinobi headed north to the location that a bartender had happily told them. A small ripple of muscle pulled up the corner of Kimura Sayomi's lips. The mission gave her the chance to have the long awaited reunion with her sister.

* * *

As I have said, I apologise for the shortness of the chapter (feel free to throw a virtual tantrum in the form of a review)

I just noticed that when Axl Rose was young, he really looked like Deidara. :D But then, looking at how he is now, I don't think Deidara would look anything like him when he is 45. DX

Anyways (I love that word), I have been editing the first few chapters recently and made some minor story line changes, if you don't know what's going on, I apologise (yet again). Because this story is not beta-read (I can't be bothered) so I have to edit some stuff myself, sometimes, when an idea pops up, it is agonising to not materialize it. Sorry for the inconvience of the changes! (feel free to verbally/virtually slap me) And I also have to keep my namings constant...sometimes i do first name then surname and sometime i do surname then first name...I have become awefully talkative tonight...i better shut up. Yeah.

**Please Review, it makes me happy, doesn't matter if 'tis negative, just tell me everything and anything!**


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